A direct mail campaign in Canada costs postage plus printing plus the work around them: the list, the design, the addressing and the tracking. Postage is the only part Canada Post publishes. This guide sets out the 2026 Canada Post rates, what a mail vendor such as Postalytics charges all-in, a worked example for 1,000 households, and the costs that do not show up on a rate card.
The Short Answer
- Canada Post postage for a standard piece up to 50 g, effective March 23, 2026: 18.7 cents for Neighbourhood Mail (plus 1.3 cents for optional transportation), 42.5 cents for Postal Code Targeting, and 56.6 cents for Personalized Mail.
- Printing is on top of postage. Our worked example below assumes 15 cents a card for 1,000 postcards and 20 cents when each card carries its own address; get a quote, since it moves with stock, size and quantity.
- An all-in vendor such as Postalytics charges CA$1.05 to CA$1.59 per 6 x 9 postcard including printing and postage, depending on plan and volume.
- For 1,000 households, expect about CA$350 to CA$1,600 before design, depending on the route. The cheapest route per card is rarely the cheapest per customer.
Canada Post Marketing Mail Rates for 2026
| Product | What it reaches | Postage per piece | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neighbourhood Mail | Every chosen delivery point on a route, no name or address | 18.7¢ (20.7¢ oversize), plus 1.3¢ for optional transportation | Complete distribution of one route |
| Postal Code Targeting | Every address in the postal codes you pick, addressed to the resident | 42.5¢ machineable | 100 items |
| Personalized Mail | Named people on your own list | 56.6¢ machineable, by postal indicia | 100 items |
Three things the rate card does not make obvious. First, the 2026 prices took effect on March 23, not in January as in most years. Second, from that date Postal Code Targeting mail has to meet the Personalized Mail content definition, so treat it as addressed mail when you plan the creative. Third, small-business members get 5, 10 or 15 percent off Neighbourhood Mail depending on yearly volume; Canada Post publishes no first-mailing discount. Snap Admail, its licensed self-serve tool, offers new users a promo code by phone with no stated amount, so do not budget on one until it is in writing.
What an All-In Mail Vendor Charges
Mail automation vendors print, address and mail each card for one price. Postalytics publishes Canadian prices in Canadian dollars per piece, including printing, postage and paper. A 6 x 9 postcard, sent as Personalized Mail, is CA$1.59 on its free plan. On its Marketer plan (US$199 a month) it runs from CA$1.434 for under 2,500 pieces down to CA$1.236 at 10,000 or more, and on its Pro and Agency plan (US$399 a month) from CA$1.247 down to CA$1.049. The paid and free plans list personalized QR codes, triggered mailings from a CRM, an API and a Zapier connection.
Our own number: a Regina real estate client we run a postcard program for prepaid Postalytics credits at CA$1.59 per 6 x 9 postcard in 2026, bought in blocks of at least 100. That covered printing, addressing and postage. A paid plan prices lower, and lower again with volume, which is why we quote the vendor's published range above rather than our own purchase.
Worked Example: 1,000 Households
Below is the same 1,000-piece, 6 x 9 postcard mailing priced four ways. Postage uses the Canada Post rates above. Printing is an assumption we state so you can swap in your own quote: CA$0.15 per card for a plain run and CA$0.20 when every card is printed with its own address. Neighbourhood Mail postage includes the optional 1.3-cent transportation fee. Design is excluded because it is the same on every route.
| Route | Postage | Printing (assumed) | Total before design | Per piece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neighbourhood Mail | CA$200 | CA$150 | CA$350 | CA$0.35 |
| Postal Code Targeting | CA$425 | CA$200 | CA$625 | CA$0.63 |
| Personalized Mail (your list) | CA$566 | CA$200 | CA$766 | CA$0.77 |
| Postalytics, free plan | Included | Included | CA$1,590 | CA$1.59 |
Neighbourhood Mail is sold by complete routes, so a real order lands near 1,000 rather than on it. Personalized Mail through a mail house usually adds a fee for list preparation and sorting, which is part of what the Postalytics price covers. The gap between CA$0.35 and CA$1.59 a card is real, but so is what it buys: names, a QR code per household, and a card that sends itself when your CRM says so.
The Number That Matters: Cost per Customer
Per-piece cost is the wrong comparison. A mailing to 1,000 of your own past customers can bring back more business than 5,000 flyers to strangers, at a higher price per card. Divide the full campaign cost by the customers it produced. A hypothetical to show the arithmetic, not a forecast: if the Postal Code Targeting route above cost CA$625 plus CA$300 of design, and 1% of households responded and half of those became customers, that is 5 customers at CA$185 each.
Whether CA$185 is cheap depends on what a customer is worth to you. For a roofer or a dental office it usually is; for a coffee shop it usually is not. Response rates vary widely with the list and the offer, so treat any benchmark as a range to plan against, not a promise.
Costs That Do Not Show Up on a Rate Card
- Design and copy for both sides of the card, sized to the vendor's or Canada Post's template.
- List work: cleaning, de-duplicating and removing people who asked not to be mailed. Bought lists cost extra and come with privacy obligations.
- Address preparation for Personalized Mail: Canada Post discounts depend on how the mail is sorted and presented.
- A response path: a landing page, a QR code, and a call-tracking number if phones matter.
- Time: from the card being created in Postalytics to the mailbox took about two weeks on our measured card (six days to print, about nine more to arrive).
- Sales tax on printing and services.
Which Route We Recommend
- Mailing your own customers or patients: Personalized Mail. If it is a few hundred pieces or it should go out automatically, use a vendor such as Postalytics; above a few thousand a month, price a mail house too.
- Reaching a neighbourhood around a new location: Postal Code Targeting. It costs about twice Neighbourhood Mail in postage and reaches homes with a no-flyers note.
- A broad price promotion where every door matters and a delay would not hurt: Neighbourhood Mail, with a fallback in place. Our guide to the 2025 flyer ban explains why.
If you want the whole thing run for you, our direct mail service covers list, design, sending and reporting for Saskatchewan businesses.
